Conformity of a Soccer Ball

Like millions of others, I am sitting watching the Soccer World cup. Looking at the peak of football performance on a world stage with global stars and maniacal supporters - the world cup really is a spectacle.

But unlike the millions, my mind focuses on the ball - Adidas Al Rihla. If you look it up the official blurb is "it's designed to be the fastest and most accurate World Cup ball to date". "The 2022 world cup ball features Speedshell, a textured polyurethane skin in a new 20-piece panel shape that enhances aerodynamics to improve the accuracy, flight stability, and swerve of shots."

Very impressive technology and heritage as Adidas has made every World Cup football since Mexico 1970. Some questions pop into my mind, how much has the official soccer ball changed? How much has manufacturing changed? Where is it manufactured?

How do they get them all exactly the same?

The first three questions answers you can find on google. The fourth is a corporate agreement between the manufacturer and Adidas.

Conformity through quality control in manufacturing facilities, during production inspections, and inspection checklist before shipment - all processes to ensure conformity would be set out in documentation and rigorously applied.

I wonder about how long their checklists are - what are their measurements for non-conformity, is it down to grams and millimeters? Whatever they are, Adidas got it right as every ball in the World Cup must be exactly the same, from training grounds through group stages to the final, every single ball must conform, just imagine if not, and the weight of a ball is off and the final goal isn't scored.

P.S.

A quick search shows that the Adidas Al Rihla is made in Sialkot Pakistan in one of the town's 1000 factories. Read the fascinating article here.

#soccer #soccerworldcup #conformity #qualitycontrol